Mara Sopa Lodge Masai Mara

Mara Sopa Lodge is part of the Sopa chain of hotels and lodges. Did you know that Sop is a Masai word for “welcome”? I have stayed in both the Mara Sopa and Ngorongoro Sopa in Tanzania. The Mara Sopa lodge is located in the Oloolamuita valley by a hillside showing off a breathtaking view of the Valley. The view is lovely because the lodge is located in hills just next to the entrance to the Maasai Mara Reserve, ten minutes or so.
The lodge rooms are furnished with queen size beds and full en-suite bathrooms and shower. Each room and suite has its own private balcony where you can actually see the wildlife and bird life. It is made in a typical African hut architecture to blend in with nature and to celebrate the rich Masai culture of hut building. Charming, warm and cozy is what I felt. I felt the lodge blended in well with nature giving it the authentic and traditional feel.

We had an early rise to go game viewing and I was amazed at how good the food/ breakfast was at about 6: 00 a.m. The lodge is big with a really huge dining area and some minutes walk from the cabin to the dining area. The path to the dinning and bar is very intriguing arousing curiosity as you walk along. The service team was very pleasant and, they served good meals from a really large buffet offering something to choose from for everybody. If you are a vegetarian, you may want to let the service team know ahead of time so they can cater for your needs.

Because of it’s location electric power is used economically: The electricity is on at certain hours only, so if you need to charge anything like cell phones, lap top battery, camera battery etc, please do so at dinner time so you get enough time for the charge, at least five hours or more.

Getting to the gate to the park from the lodge is approximately ten minutes drive: along the way you are able to spot a lot of animals in the area including Zebras, antelopes etc. It was that time of the year when the migration is on so the place was a bit crowded with about twenty or so vans with people scrambling to snap or look as soon as a lion was spotted. There are many secluded areas along the Mara river where many more animals can be spotted, if your driver is skilled enough and willing to go the distance the Mara River area and closer tot he Tanzania boarders offer more. The roadwork is not as smooth so it can get tiring taking the drive to and from the lodge to the Mara river area.

I rarely recommend with a definite touch that someone choose one hotel over the other, but this one comes particularly high on my recommendations. I would highly recommend this place because not only is it efficiently run but it has one thing most park/ reserve hotels tend to lack - the warm touch to everything.